Any Way the Petals Blow
by OnceInAGreenGentleman
Summary: Aria Ementon sends herself off to Ouran in order to get a good education and to get away from her grandfather's rich way of living.While she attends the academy she befriends the members, making a career out of what she loves. But things only last so long. Will Aria continue her dream, or go any way the petals blow? [[Cover from WattPad version of the story @twentyoneanimes]]
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: Ouran High School Host Club does not belong to me._

The clock on the wall read 1:43, the black hands evident on the white face. My knee was shaking up and down as I sat with my grandfather, who was smiling at me proudly.

Only two weeks ago had I been accepted into Ouran Academy, a very well-known school in Japan. It was a whole continent away from home, and that distance made me nervous.

"If you keep doing that, your leg will fly off," I heard my grandfather joke. His voice jolted me out of my thoughts, my eyes meeting his quickly. His smile grew wider. "I know you're nervous, Aria, but you have no reason to be. I have many friends down there who would help you in a heartbeat if you ever needed it. You will do excellent."

I smiled gratefully at him, taking his hand to squeeze. My grandfather, Ethan Kilton, went there when he was my age and still has a lot of friends down there. I had met them when I was younger, and remember them all being nice people.

"I know that, grandpa. I'm just nervous that something wil happen while I'm gone."

"Nothing will happen that you need to worry about. But if something does, I will send a chauffeur for you, okay?"

I nodded. "Okay."

_Flight 13 is now boarding passengers. Flight 13 is now boarding passengers._

I swallowed down my nerves and gave my grandpa a big hug, kissing him on the cheek before I grabbed my carry on and boarded the plane. He had gotten me a first class ticket, though I had told him that any seat would be fine. He always wanted the best for me.

As others boarded (or at least I assumed they were boarding- no one else came into first class), I looked at the brochure that I had gotten in the mail for the dozenth time. The school was a beautiful pink color, though it did look a little odd in all of the green surrounding it. At the top of the brochure, it read, _Welcome to Ouran Academy! _

I had read every page at least twice, not wanting to miss a detail. I had already chosen an after-school activity to participate in (the book club only met once a month, and I wanted the focus on studies), but I still had to choose another one. They didn't have any art clubs, which would have been my other choice.

I sighed and put the brochure back. I still had another week before I had to decide on clubs, even though I would be attending school on Monday. They were only two weeks into school, so I don't think I missed too much so far.

The flight attendant spoke over the speaker, saying that we were about to take off and to turn off all electronic devices. I took out a pack of gum and began to chew a piece, letting my ears pop as we began to ascend.

When the OK was given, I took out my laptop and started looking over the schedule that was given out to me. Apparently students didn't switch rooms; they switched _teachers_. The only time they left the room was for lunch and labs.

_Math, chemistry, French- oh, French! Thank god! A+ in that class for sure! _I grinned to myself. _Biology, reading, English literature, free period. They all seem pretty simple to me._

One of the flight attendants asked if I needed anything. I politely declined, offering a kind smile as I waved my hand dismissively. I had another ten hours before this plane landed, and it was only noon. I plugged in my headphones and tried to get my mind off of the ride for a little while longer.

I was never one for flying. The fact that we were 37,000 feet up in the air and going 6,000 miles per hour. I had to shake the thought out of my head before I started over-thinking that fact.

There was a movie playing on the small screen in front of me, but it looked to be more of a love story than a comedy, and I needed something funny on my mind, not depressing. I looked through my bag to find something interesting to do, but to no avail.

With a big sigh, I leaned my head against the window and dozed off without a second thought.

#

"Ma'am, the plane is landing."

A gentle shaking woke me up from my long nap. I can't believe I slept that long. Thinking back on it, I didn't get a lot of sleep lastnight because I was so stressed out.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and thanked the attendant for waking me up. I gathered my carry on and stuffed my laptop into it, putting my headphones in my pocket. I double-checked my bag to make sure the brochure was in there, and then I exited the plane.

The sunlight was bright, just starting to rise as I went to gather my luggage. I grabbed a small coffee, thanking anyone out there who would listen that it was only Saturday. I had today and tomorrow to rest before I had to go to school.

As I gathered my two big suitcases, a white sign with the name _Ementon _written on it in big, black letters. I waved at the chaueffer, someone I hadn't seen for almost three years.

Denny McGonnall was a quiet man, but he was very respecting to anyone he met. He had moved here to Japan for family emergencies and had been down here since( thankfully the member was slowly getting better after so long of being sick). He was in his early fourties and always had a smile in his small eyes. Grandpa must have called him in advance to come pick me up.

"Denny!" I squealed in excitement, giving him a one-arm hug. "I haven't seen you in a while."

"Aria, you've grown quite a bit. And you definetly got stronger," he added as I let go, rubbing the side of his neck.

"Sorry," I said sheepishly. "Guess I got carried away."

"Don't be," he assured me. "I missed you, too, by the way." I smiled at that. "Now come on. The limo is parked out front."

I remember the first time I had met Denny. He tried calling me "ma'am" and "madam" until I told him very sternly one day that I wasn't thirty-five and single. He laughed a good week after that, saying that he was sorry for implying that. Ever since then, he's been a lot more casual towards me, which I greatly appreciated. Just because I was the daughter of someone with a lot of money didn't mean that I wanted to be treated that way.

"How long will you be in Japan for?" Denny asked as he put my luggage in the backseat.

"Until I graduate from the academy, and then I was thinking about going to America for college."

"My, my. You're going all over the place, aren't you?" I nodded, smiling a bit as he gestured me through the open door.

The ride to the 'small mansion' that I would be staying at was kept in a comfortable silence. It was relaxing to know that Denny would be one of the friends grandpa had told me about. Denny was the only person I knew in Tokyo so far, but that was okay. I would be making lots of friends Monday.

Denny bid me farewell as he handed me the key and a small paper with emergency phone numbers on it, his being on there as well. I waved him off, watching the tail lights on the limo disappear as he turned the corner.

I sighed and looked up at the house. It would just be me here for the next three years. Thankfully it wasn't a 'mansion', as my grandpa had put it. It was a two-story house that looked like it belong there with the small houses around it and the apartments a couple streets away.

I unlocked the door, opening it to reveal a staircase that lead to the second-story loft. There was a living room on the right and another one on the left, a kitchen behind it. The dining room was to the right of that, a bathroom down the hall. Next to the bathroom was a bedroom that had a bed and sheets on it.

I went upstairs, leaving my things down by the door. To the left of the stairs was yet another bedroom, this one the same size as the other one, a conjoining bathroom linked to it. This one also had a bed with sheets on it. I frowned. _That's strange._

To the right of the stairs was the master bedroom, a king size bed in front of a window that brought in the sunlight. There was another conjoining bathroom, this one bigger than the other. _I guess this will be my room._

As I went downstairs, a phone rang in the house. Picking it up, I read the screen and hit the green button. "Grandpa?"

"Aria! How was the flight?" He sounded as cheerful as always.

"Tiring. I actually had a question for you."

"Shoot."

"Why are there three beds in this place?"

"They came with the house. When I bought it, it was only used for rent, so they kept all of the furniture in there." That made sense.

"Oh. Well, I just got here a few minutes ago."

"And do you like the place?"

"It's very... home-y." He laughed at the word. "ButI love it."

"Good, good. Say, have you seen the basement yet?"

"No." I looked down the hallwaythat lead to one of the bedroom and saw a door that was behind the stairs. _Had that always been there?_

"Well, hurry! I want to hear your reaction over the phone."

I walked over to the oak door and flipped the switch. I was met with a long staircase. I walked down slowly, not wanting to fall.

"Why is this such a big deal?" I asked him as I neared the bottom.

"You'll see," was all he said. I rolled my eyes as I turned the corner.

My jaw almost hit the floor,

"Grandpa... you did this?"

"Anything for my Aria."

I was looking at a vast room with green screens on each side, the floor covered in one as well. There were giant lights lined up at the back wall, ready to be used. There was a tripod and a new camera sitting back, ready to take pictures. This place was beautiful, reminding me of my mother's old studio.

"You didn't have to do this," I whispered, a tear of happiness falling over my cheek.

"I didn't _have _to, but I _wanted _to. I knew there wasn't an arts club at the academy, and I know how much you love to do it. I thought I'd make you feel more comfortable over there."

"Grandpa, thank you so much!" I exclaimed.

"It was nothing," he brushed off. "And don't think I didn't notice you bring all of your pictures with you." I blushed a bit, knowing that I had gotten caught red-handed. "Just be careful, alright?"

"I will, Grandpa, I will."

We said our goodbyes as I went back upstairs. I couldn't stay down there without being able to start taking pictures, even though I hadn't done so in a while. I ran upstairs and grabbed my bag, finding my picture albums and flipping through them to get an idea of what I wanted to do.

Since it was such a tiring day, I decided to stay inside the house and play with the green screen and filters that I still had on my laptop. I also grabbed my laptop and headed downstairs, excited to get back into my hobby.


	2. Chapter 2

_Note to self: don't turn the lights up so bright._

After spending the rest of the day down in the new photography studio (something that I still couldn't believe), I hadn't realized how bright the lights were until I had stopped flashing pictures. The room looked really dark and very eerie.

"Okay, one more time," I said to myself, seeing the time on the computer. After this, I was getting a shower and then going straight to bed. I resumed taking shots, hoping to get the right lighting on the vase I had found upstairs.

I remember the first time that I had went to my mom's studio. I was three and had those pig tails in my hair that all of the other girls had, pink scrunchies holding them to my head. My mom told me that she would be busy, but that was okay to me. We would go to lunch and spend the rest of the night together.

I sat back and watched in fascination as my mom told people what pose they would go into for the perfet picture. She would always have a smile on her face, even when the customers were super annoying. It was fun to watch, and at that age, I knew that I wanted to be like her.

I helped my mom on some of her away works, helping her take pictures at sporting events and banquets. We would always laugh if one of us got a good picture of something humorous, like one of the dads pretending to spike the punch at a bar mitzfa or a mom pretending to be a dancer while their child stood in the background with their face in their hand.

As I went into high school, I immediately went into the photography classes to learn about different lightings and filters. I learned so much from that class that my mom made me her assistant. It was a fun job, and I loved it. I continued to do it even after she passed away.

"Perfect," I said to myself as I added another saturation level. I saved it to my laptop, shut off the camera and went back upstairs. It was beginning to get dark outside, so I decided to start getting ready to go to bed. I showered, brush my teeth and laid in bed.

_Maybe tomorrow won't be so bad, _I thought to myself.

#

As soon as my alarm clock went off, I knew I wasn't ready.

My stomach was in knots and my palms wouldn't stop sweating. I had to stop myself three times during my morning routine to tell myself to calm down.

Before Ihad fallen asleep, an idea had popped into my head that I was representing the Kilton name, and that made it hard to sleep. What if people only saw me as the granddaughter of a famous artist? What if people didn't want to be friends wth me because my parent's hadn't done anything, but because it was the generation before them?

I know, it sounded ridiculous- and I kept telling myself that. _You're overreacting, _I kept telling myself.

But what if I wasn't? I didn't know how these rich people acted, and I definitely didn't know who they approved of.

Sighing, I tied the bow on my yellow dress before I walked to the car that I had requested to pick me up for school (I didn't like drving in a limo; it felt lonely without someone else in the big space).

It wasn't long before I had finally arrived to the pink academy. It was even more beautiful than the brochure showed me. I had my schedule in one hand and my bag in the other. With a burst of confidence, I slid out of the limo.

Surprisingly, nothing exploded. I got a couple of weird looks, but I was expecting those as I walked through the big double doors. The red carpet beneath my feet felt like it could feel soft if I didn't have my shoes on.

I followed the other students, the carpet transitioning to pink tile. Up ahead, the black sign that read 1-A was staring back at me. I swallowed hard, wiping my palms on my skirt.

I entered the door as fast as I could and went to the back of the room, sitting at the desk by the window. I stared at the dark, smooth surface, feeling like I was going to faint unless I calmed down.

Slowly, I set materials on my desk, not wanting to catch anyone's attention. My hands were shaking as I grabbed my math textbook from my bag.

"Hey," someone said shortly, startling me. I dropped the book, watching as it landed next to someone's foot. Looking up, I saw a boy with piked orange hair and amber eyes that were looking at me with annoyance. "You're in my seat."

"Oh," I said softly. "I'm sorry." I picked up everything off of my desk and was going to pick my book up, but it wasn't on the floor. I looked up to see the boy holding it out towards me. "Thank you."

"Hikaru, what are you doing?" a deep, feminine voice asked. Both of our eyes snapped towards the voice, and I frowned. _Why is that girl wearing a boy's uniform? _"We could have just moved down a seat; there's no need for her to move."

"But this is _my _seat," this boy- Hikaru, I assumed- said childishly."Besides, there's only three rows, Haruhi. I'm not moving to the seat in front of her."

"It's fine," I said, my voice a little louder than a whisper. "I didn't know this seat was taken." Without another word, I moved to the seat in front of the one I had previously sat in. The orange-haired freak finally shut up and sat down without another word. I stared at the door until another orange-haired freak came in. _Twins, huh? Fan-freaking-tastic._

The teacher walked in, a smile on his face. "Okay, class, settle down. Today we have a new student. Ementon Aria, would you please step forward?"

It took me a moment to remember that they said names backwards here. I stood up and walked to the front, keeping my eyes on the chalk board until I stepped behind the podium. I didn't have to be told what to do from there.

"My name is Ementon Aria, I was born and raised in a small suburb outside of Paris, France, and I enjoy pho- reading in my spare time," I said, changing my mind at the last moment. Everyone clapped politely, whispering between each other.

"She's so pretty-"

"-her eyes are so beautiful-"

"-her hair is so... _brown-_"

"I wonder what kind of mascara she uses-"

I sat back down in my seat as the teacher started teaching the lesson. I focused on his words instead of the ones that were floating around the room. I was on my second page of notes when something hit me in the back of the head. I froze a second before continuing to write down what was on the board.

_Thud. _Another one hit me before hitting the floor. I ignored it still, not letting it bother me.

_Thud. Thud, Thud, Thud. _The paper was starting to pile up around my desk. I turned the page and continued to concentrate.

_Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud. _Okay, maybe I was starting to get a little frustrated. Fine, but so what? I didn't know who it was, but that didn't bother me. Nope, not at all.

_Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud. _I finally turned in my seat, only to get hit in the face by paper. I scowled at the orange freak, who was laughing quietly at my unamused expression. I took the paper from where it landed on his desk and unwrapped it.

_Music room 3, _it read. I raised an eyebrow at the words before looking at him. He wasn't paying attention to me, still laughing as I threw it in his face. He flinched back in surprise before scowling at me. I shrugged and went back to my notes.

_I haven't known his name for ten minutes, yet he pisses me off. _The whole class period went by without the teacher noticing.

"Hitachiin Hikaru and Ementon Aria, pick up those papers right now!" the teacher yelled angrily. I sighed, putting my pen down as the bell's ring for the next class came to an end. I picked up the paper rolls as the orange freak sat there and watched me.

"Are you going to help or not?" I asked irritably. I was not going to let this guy use me as one of his toys for his own personal interest.

"Not," he replied flatly. His twin, who sat next to him, rolled his eyes as he kneeled to help me.

"I'm sorry about him," he said in a slightly more high-pitched voice. "I'm Kaoru, by the way."

"Aria, and it's a pleasure. What did you do, use the whole notebook on me?" I asked Hikaru, throwing all of the paper in the trash bin.

"Of course not," he said innocently. "I'm not that wasteful." He held up his notebook, one piece of paper left. "I have more."

I threw another paper at him. "Now you have two." I smiled a bit as his brother laughed along with me.

#

As free period- or, as they call it, 'advisory period'- came along, I decided to wander the halls of Ouran. All of the libraries were starting to fill up, so there was nothing interesting there. The gardens were also filled with people who chatted amongst themselves. The classrooms weren't even that quiet anymore,

_So much for peace and quiet, _I thought to myself. I sighed, grabbing my backpack and heading towards the only other place I knew of.

I know, it's not a good idea. That Hitachiin twin throws a note, telling me to go to music room 3, but honestly, I don't think I have another choice. It's probably the most quiet place in this whole damn school, so why not give it a try?

_Because the orange freak told you to go there, _I tell myself. I don't think he meant any harm, though, And even if he did, I know a few moves to keep him away. _Far, far away, _my thoughts reassured me.

My hand hovered over the handle, scared of what was behind it. _There isn't a reason to be, _I thought, Taking in a deep breath, I slowly opened the door.

There was a blinding light and some... _things _that flew around me. Petals, maybe? I blinked until my eyes adjusted, seeing a group of guys- and that Haruhi person- surround a chair, where a blonde boy sat.

"Welcome," they all said in unison. _And goodbye, _I wanted to say. I wanted to leave and find someplace to study. But instead, I had to find a whole bunch of good looking guys- excluding the orange freak and Haruhi- who looked to be bored.

"Good afternoon, m'lady," the one in the middle said, standing up and walking over to me. "I don't believe I've had the pleasure. I am Suoh Tamaki, third year and president of the host club. But you can call me Tamaki."


End file.
